Garments, including pant-like absorbent garments, medical garments, and other products, are commonly made with an elastic band adjacent to at least one of the garment openings. A pant-like garment, for instance, may have an elastic band adjacent to the waist opening, each of the two leg openings, or all three of the openings. The elastic band adjacent to the waist opening holds the garment in place, and prevents it from falling off of the wearer. The elastic bands adjacent to the leg openings help to seal the garment against the wearer's legs, thereby preventing or reducing leakage of waste materials from inside the garment.
In conventional garments, the primary material for the garment is manufactured and assembled separately from the elastic bands. Following their separate manufacture, the elastic bands are attached to the primary material at some stage during manufacture of the garment by sewing, ultrasonic welding, thermal bonding, adhesive bonding, or the like. In the resulting product, the user can often see the elastic band as a distinct entity attached to the garment. If there is no visible evidence of an elastic band, the product may be perceived as inelastic (i.e., as not having an elastic band), or may be perceived as having inadequate elastic properties.
Because of competition, there is an incentive to reduce both material and manufacturing costs associated with garments, without sacrificing performance and quality. One way is to eliminate the use of a separately manufactured elastic band. However, because the use of visible, distinct elastic bands has gained widespread consumer acceptance, there is incentive to at least maintain the perception of a visibly distinct elastic band where elastic properties exist.